Erstad put his left shoulder into Estrada's face mask on a play at the plate, knocking the ball loose and Estrada out of the game. He looked pretty woozy and was taken to the hospital.

Pretty cheap play as Estrada was on the first base side of the plate and Erstad clearly went for the catcher than trying to get to the plate, which he could have done. Looking at the angle that Erstad hit Estrada, the plate was not in the same path.

It's a shame for a player to get hurt like that - similar to Ray Fosse. But what was interesting is that the Braves did nothing in return. I guess they are willing to be the patsy this year. A. Jones got hit his first AB and they came inside again his 2nd AB. After a little jawing, the Braves again did nothing in return.

I was watching the game where Estrada's left foot was on the first base side of the plate and the path Erstad took to hit Estrada took him away from the plate, not towards it. Draw a direct line from the angle Erstad hit Estrada - the plate was not in this line. He could have gone around Estrada's leg and touched the plate easily.

You may think it was clean, but I don't.

As for the Braves announcers, they work for Time Warner and, outside of Skip Carey, all try to be as non-homer as possible to avoid controversy. Honestly, I have no respect for any of them, especially Sutton who was a huge rival of the Braves when he was on the Dodgers - now he announces for the Braves. All the Dodgers fans I know think he's a huge sell-out.

He didnt go out of his way to hit him, put it this way without the collision Erstad is out. It was just fine, and actually one thing left in the game to enjoy. Hell you cant even throw at batters any more.

Put it this way - Estrada was in front of the plate when he was hit - no single portion of his foot was on the plate. Based on how quickly the collision occured after Estrada caught the ball, Erstad could have easily slid and touched the plate before Estrada could have gotten the ball down to tag him.

If Estrada misses much time, it'll be interesting to see if McCann gets the call.

After getting hit tonight, Johnny Estrada was taken to Piedmont Hospital to be examined for a possible concussion and neck injury.
Braves manager Bobby Cox said Estrada ''could get up off the ground, which is a real good sign. So maybe nothing's wrong with his neck and his head. It snapped his head pretty good. He got hit high.'' It's unclear whether there will be another update on his condition tonight.

In hockey, a real contact sport, that kind of hit is an ejection and probably a suspension. You don't throw your shoulder at another player's head. That's just bad sportsmanship. If you're man enough to go through a catcher, be man enough to take him out cleanly.

I watched the play over and over and still don't believe it was a dirty hit. Estrada's left half of his body was blocking the 3rd base side of the plate. When Erstad hit him, it caused Erstad to end up on the 1st base side of the plate. I can see how some people think that Estrada wasn't blocking the plate. He was indeed blocking it. As far as him putting his shoulder into Estrada's head, where else would he have hit him. If you watch the play, Estrada is crouched down and the only other thing Erstad could have hit was his legs. I'm sorry, but if it were me, I wouldn't going head first into a catcher's legs. To me, Erstad was just trying to get to the plate, that's part of the game.

I have been a catcher for 8 years and have had several hits like this on me. At first, it always looks dirty and looks like it could have been evaded. It's part of the sport. Heck, I've played in slow pitch softball games as a catcher (team needed a fill in, didn't want to take a position players spot), and got railroaded by a man almost twice my size (I was 6' 195 lbs at the time). He knocked the crap out of me (head shot, but this was my fault cuz I was crouched down). I didn't scream and yell and claim it was a dirty hit. Like I said, it's part of the game.

As far as the hockey reference. Yes, that would get a man ejected if he went for a shot to the head. But, if you look at those hits, the player is gunning for the head and the player is not crouched down.

I don't see anything wrong with this hit. As a catcher, you know that this can happen anytime there is a play at the plate. Most runners now try to avoid this because they don't want to take the chance of hurting themselves. To me, this was an old school-play at the plate. It's nice to see that not everyone in the MLB is a pansy.